Coming into college, I didn’t know what VSA was. I’ll admit – I wasn’t interested at all but I still gave it a chance. After a year of going to events and meeting some of the most wonderful people, I decided to run for VSOUL’s E-Board. The following year I became Internal Vice President, and then President. Throughout my term I made it my main goal to focus on culture and making VSOUL a home for its members. That year VSOUL won Most Outstanding Philanthropic Event, Most Outstanding Cultural Program, and Most Outstanding Web Presence at the First Annual UVSA Gulf Coast Awards. Although it was a successful term, I wanted to do more.Read More→

Towards the end of the Vietnam War, my family, like many others, fled their home country in hopes for better opportunities. Even in Vietnam my family never had much, but coming to a foreign land with no money and no knowledge of the language was a real struggle. From an early age I saw how hard my parents and siblings worked to achieve their “American Dream.” This made me appreciate all the opportunities that I have today even more.Read More→

When initially asked if I would be interested in running for External Vice President for UVSA Gulf Coast, I didn’t think twice. Having just served as Co-CORR alongside my good friend Kent Tong, the decision was a no-brainer. I knew I wanted to be a part of the UVSA GC legacy and help develop an organization that was still in its early life stages. My hope was to give UVSA GC a name for itself and gain exposure to community organizations within the region. At the time, if you asked a general VSA member if he or she heard of “UVSA Gulf Coast,” chances are the student would’ve respond “no.” Knowing that I would be able to help change that perspective as EVP made me more motivated to run for the position. But the biggest conflict hit me when I found out I would be moving out of the region for my first post-undergrad “big girl job.”Read More→

Growing up, I never felt “Asian” enough. From attending private school since the first grade, to being one of three Asians in my class, I was always considered the Token Asian guy or called “Twinkie” because I was “yellow on the outside, but white on the inside.” I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin.

Throughout my seven years in VSA, there have been many instances where I’ve told myself “I’m going to retire after this.”

When my term as President of LASO ended, I was ready to just be an alumnus. But then I became Executive Director for Camp Delta 8. After that, I was like “Okay, for real this time. I’m done.” But I was bored holding no position, and I found myself itching to continue my involvement in VSA. So I ran and became Co-CORR for the region. Eight months later, I’m President of UVSA Gulf Coast. When I joined the VSA community in 2011, I wouldn’t have ever thought I’d one day be leading the region. Heck, UVSA Gulf Coast didn’t even exist at the time!Read More→